Auditing the accessibility of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)

The outcome from the research being reported in this paper is the design of an accessibility audit to evaluate Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) for accessibility and to arrive at solutions and adaptations that can meet user needs. This accessibility audit includes expert-based heuristic evaluations and user-based evaluations of the MOOC platforms and individual courses

EVALUACIÓN DE ACCESIBILIDAD DE RECURSOS EDUCATIVOS DIGITALES: identificando barreras para usuarios con discapacidad visual total

La evaluación de accesibilidad requiere de la combinación de diferentes métodos que permitan una mejor identificación de las barreras que pueden presentar para poblaciones específicas. En este trabajo, se presenta el proceso de evaluación de accesibilidad Web a un conjunto de Recursos Educativos Digitales, el cual involucra evaluación automática y evaluación manual realizada específicamente por usuarios con discapacidad visual. Con los resultados de las evaluaciones se puede concluir que algunos elementos que sirven de apoyo a los usuarios con discapacidad visual total se pueden convertir en una barrera si no se implementan correctamente

An investigation into the perspectives of providers and learners on MOOC accessibility

An effective open eLearning environment should consider the target learner’s abilities, learning goals, where learning takes place, and which specific device(s) the learner uses. MOOC platforms struggle to take these factors into account and typically are not accessible, inhibiting access to environments that are intended to be open to all. A series of research initiatives are described that are intended to benefit MOOC providers in achieving greater accessibility and disabled learners to improve their lifelong learning and re-skilling. In this paper, we first outline the rationale, the research questions, and the methodology. The research approach includes interviews, online surveys and a MOOC accessibility audit; we also include factors such the risk management of the research programme and ethical considerations when conducting research with vulnerable learners. Preliminary results are presented from interviews with providers and experts and from analysis of surveys of learners. Finally, we outline the future research opportunities. This paper is framed within the context of the Doctoral Consortium organised at the TEEM'17 conference

Using Crowdsourcing to Improve Accessibility of Geographic Maps on Mobile Devices

The continuous growth of the use of technology and mobile applications means that more people have access to information published on the web, including geographic information. However, for visually impaired people interaction is difficult if maps are not accessible. For this reason, in this paper we analyze accessibility barriers of webpages with geographic content presented on mobile devices. With the purpose of showing an alternative to improve accessibility in these pages, this study proposes the use of a technique called crowdsourcing, i.e., a group of people that voluntarily access to webpages and provide information about physical accessibility and a general description in each map element (point, line or polygon). This description is written into the Scalable Vector Graphics Tiny (SVG Tiny) code. SVG Tiny is used to represent geographic maps with HTML. In this way, screen readers can interpret the descriptions to visually impaired people, thus making maps more accessible.This work has been partially supported by the research group "Ingeniería Web, Aplicaciones y Desarrollos (IWAD)" of the Universtiy of Alicante

How Could MOOCs Become Accessible? The Case of edX and the Future of Inclusive Online Learning

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have great potential to provide learning opportunities for people around the world. However, to reach their full potential, MOOCs need to meet the accessibility needs of diverse learners, with and without disabilities. In the literature review, we have found some published research on accessibility evaluations of MOOCs content and platforms, but we have not found published research on how to design existing and future MOOC platforms to assist authors in producing accessible content. The main purpose of this research is to contribute to the discussion about the future of inclusive online learning, by proposing a software design to incorporate features in MOOC platforms to enable, support and guide authors toward conceptualizing, designing, building and testing accessible MOOCs. We also present the results of an evaluation of the accessibility issues of Studio, the edX course-authoring software, based on ATAG 2.0.This work has been partially supported by the Prometeo Project by SENESCYT, Ecuadorian Government

Web Accessibility Evaluation of Massive Open Online Courses on Geographical Information Systems

This paper describes some of the challenges that exist to make accessible massive open online courses (MOOCs) on Geographical Information Systems (GIS). These courses are known by the generic name of Geo-MOOCs. A MOOC is an online course that is open to the general public for free, which causes a massive registration. A GIS is a computer application that acquire, manipulate, manage, model and visualize geo-referenced data. The goal of a Geo-MOOC is to expand the culture of spatial thinking and the use of geographic information, enabling geospatial web technologies for widespread use. However, the Geo-MOOCs, by nature, have inherent problems of accessibility. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), Article 24, recognize the right of persons with disabilities to education. “States Parties must ensure that persons with disabilities are able to access general tertiary education, vocational training, adult education and lifelong learning without discrimination and on an equal basis with others”. Therefore, it is important to have accessible Geo-MOOCs. In this paper, we present the results of the evaluation of a Geo-MOOC called “Maps and the Geospatial Revolution” using three tools available for free on the Internet: Chrome Developer Tools – Accessibility Audit, eXaminator and WAVE; and included a selection of web content and geographical data representative of the course. This provided feedback for establishing recommendations to improve the accessibility of the analyzed course. Other Geo-MOOCs can also benefit from these recommendations.This work has been partially supported by the Prometeo Project by SENESCYT, Ecuadorian Government

An Investigation Into The Accessibility Of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are an evolution of open online learning that enables people to study online and for little or no cost. MOOCs can provide learners with the flexibility to learn, opportunities for social learning, and the chance to gain new skills and knowledge. While MOOCs have the potential to also bring these benefits to disabled learners, there is little understanding of how accessibility is embedded in the creation of MOOCs. The goal of this research has been to understand the accessibility barriers in MOOCs and to develop processes to identify and address those barriers. In the extant literature, the expectations of disabled learners when they take up MOOCs are not discussed and studies on MOOCs that report demographic data of learners do not consider disabled learners. However, disabled learners can face difficulties in accessing MOOCs, and certain learning designs of MOOCs may affect their engagement, causing them to miss out on opportunities offered by MOOCs. Technologies and the learning design approaches for MOOCs need to be as accessible as possible, so that learners can use MOOCs in a range of contexts, including via assistive technologies. This research has investigated the current state of accessibility in MOOCs. It has involved the following: Interviews with 26 MOOC providers; including software developers, accessibility managers, inclusion designers, instructional designers, course editors and learning media developers; Comparative quantitative survey data involving disabled and non-disabled learners participating in 14 MOOCs; Interviews with 15 disabled learners which have captured their experiences; and An accessibility audit was devised and then used to evaluate MOOCs from 4 major platforms: FutureLearn, edX, Coursera and Canvas. This audit comprises 4 components: technical accessibility, user experience (UX), quality and learning design; 10 experts were involved in its design and validation. This research programme has yielded an understanding of how MOOC providers cater for disabled learners, the motivations of disabled learners when taking part in MOOCs, and how MOOCs should be designed to be accessible for disabled learners. A range of barriers to accessibility in MOOCs have been identified, and an accessibility audit for MOOCs has been proposed. An open online learning environment should take into account learners’ abilities, learning goals, where learning takes place, and the different devices learners use. The research outcomes will be beneficial to MOOC providers to support the accessible design of MOOCs, including the educational resources and the platforms where the MOOCs are hosted. The ultimate beneficiaries of this research project are MOOC learners because accessible MOOCs will help support their lifelong learning and provide re-skilling opportunities

On making web accessibility more accessible: strategy and tools for social good

The world currently faces a paradox in terms of accessibility for people with disabilities. While digital technologies hold immense potential to improve their quality of life, the majority of web content still exhibits critical accessibility issues. This PhD thesis addresses this challenge by proposing two interconnected research branches. The first introduces a groundbreaking approach to improving web accessibility by rethinking how it is approached, making it more accessible itself. It involves the development of: 1. AX, a declarative framework of web components that enforces the generation of accessible markup by means of static analysis. 2. An innovative accessibility testing and evaluation methodology, which communicates test results by exploiting concepts that developers are already familiar with (visual rendering and mouse operability) to convey the accessibility of a page. This methodology is implemented through the SAHARIAN browser extension. 3. A11A, a categorized and structured collection of curated accessibility resources aimed at facilitating their intended audiences discover and use them. The second branch focuses on unleashing the full potential of digital technologies to improve accessibility in the physical world. The thesis proposes the SCAMP methodology to make scientific artifacts accessible to blind, visually impaired individuals, and the general public. It enhances the natural characteristics of objects, making them more accessible through interactive, multimodal, and multisensory experiences. Additionally, the prototype of \gls{a11yvt}, a system supporting accessible virtual tours, is presented. It provides blind and visually impaired individuals with features necessary to explore unfamiliar indoor environments, while maintaining universal design principles that makes it suitable for usage by the general public. The thesis extensively discusses the theoretical foundations, design, development, and unique characteristics of these innovative tools. Usability tests with the intended target audiences demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed artifacts, suggesting their potential to significantly improve the current state of accessibility

Understanding accessibility problems of blind users on the web

The web is an eminently visual medium. However, not everyone accesses web content visually. Research shows that using the web is challenging for blind users. To create a good user experience for blind users on the web, we need a comprehensive understanding of the users’ problems. Currently, there is little knowledge about the problem differences between blind and sighted users, which makes it difficult to suggest and test design solutions that address these problems. This research aims to provide a further understanding of the problems blind users have on the web by comparing and contrasting problems between blind and sighted users and testing how design solutions to prevalent problems benefit blind users’ experience. The first study draws together the research literature into a common unified definition of web accessibility that was used to operationalise studies. The second study compared which verbal protocol (concurrent or retrospective) is better in user-based studies. The results showed that retrospective verbal protocol is a better option for eliciting problems on the web for blind and sighted users. Then, an empirical study compared the problems between blind and sighted users on the web. The results showed that the problems the two user groups encounter largely differ. There are specific problem types distinct to blind users, but also the characteristics of the problem types that had instances by both user groups were very different. Moreover, many problems blind users encounter were in relation to the search and browse features of the websites. A further investigation by two studies with blind users of how specific design solutions to prevalent problems users had (poor page structure, lack of feedback and excessive effort) in this specific design aspect showed that simple design solutions improve specific aspects of users’ experience. Although, for major improvements in the overall user experience a combination of design solutions is needed